Alignment Healthcare and Brown & Toland Physicians to expand into Marin County, California
Independent physician group and Medicare Advantage insurance provider to offer Medicare-eligible Bay Area residents more health care and insurance options, pending regulatory approval
ORANGE, Calif. & OAKLAND, Calif. (July 24, 2019) – Brown & Toland Physicians, a network of more than 2,700 Bay Area doctors, and Alignment Healthcare, a Medicare Advantage insurance provider, have signed an agreement to work together to offer Medicare-eligible residents in Marin County access to more health care and insurance options.
Earlier this year, Alignment filed an application with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand its Northern California service area. If approved, Alignment would begin offering Medicare Advantage plans to Marin County residents in October 2019 and enrollees could seek “in-network” care with Brown & Toland Physicians starting Jan. 1, 2020.
“For more than 25 years, Brown & Toland has been dedicated to putting the health of our patients first, and it was important to us to expand our services to Medicare Advantage members in Marin County,” said Kelly Robison, Brown & Toland’s CEO. “We serve hundreds of thousands of people in the Bay Area, and we hope this agreement with Alignment allows more of them to keep their Brown & Toland doctor when choosing a Medicare Advantage plan.”
Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private companies that contract with CMS to provide all the benefits and coverage people receive from traditional Medicare, but often with extra benefits included such as prescription drug coverage and vision and hearing exams. Unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans manage care delivery through a specific network of primary care physicians and specialists to better coordinate care and practice preventive medicine, at lower costs.
Marin County has the oldest and fastest aging population in the Bay Area, with 3 of every 10 county residents aged 65 years or older, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments, a nine-county regional planning agency.[1] Coupled with the fact that the cost of living in Marin is among the highest in the country – where a family of four earning a six-figure salary is classified as low-income[2] by the federal government – the need for more affordable and more accessible health care is clear.
“At Alignment Healthcare, we understand how valuable it is to have trusted doctors in your corner, especially as people grow older,” said Dawn Maroney, Alignment’s consumer president. “We are thrilled to work with Brown & Toland to give their Medicare-eligible patients in Marin County the opportunity to keep their doctor and enjoy the benefits that Alignment members have become accustomed to.”
Powered by its proprietary command center technology called AVA™, Alignment has created a model of health care delivery that combines high-touch care coordination with high tech to improve quality of care and lower costs. In 2019, Alignment rolled out its ACCESS On-Demand Concierge, a program that provides members with access to concierge-level member services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at no additional cost. The company has rapidly grown its service area since it was founded in Orange County in 2013, now serving nearly 50,000 Medicare Advantage members in California alone.
“We are humbled by the opportunity to serve the residents of Marin County,” said John Kao, Alignment Healthcare founder and CEO. “Seniors should have the freedom to live where they want to live and receive the quality of care they deserve. As Alignment Healthcare continues to grow, we remain committed to teaming up with doctors and care specialists like Brown & Toland who share that philosophy.”
[1] http://reports.abag.ca.gov/sotr/2015/section3-changing-population.php
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/30/us/bay-area-housing-market.html
ABOUT BROWN & TOLAND PHYSICIANS
Brown & Toland Physicians is a leading network of independent doctors focused on delivering personalized and high quality healthcare to the San Francisco Bay Area. Its network of more than 2,700 physicians, serving more than 335,000 HMO and PPO patients, is dedicated to improving care and reducing costs through innovative care management and care coordination programs, use of healthcare technology, and population health management strategies. Brown & Toland, which is celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, collaborates with leading hospitals and health plan providers to provide high quality care in the Bay Area. To learn more, visit www.brownandtoland.com.
ABOUT ALIGNMENT HEALTHCARE
Alignment Healthcare is redefining the business of health care by shifting the focus from payments to people. We’ve created a new model for health care delivery that cuts costs and improves lives by unraveling the inefficiencies of the current system to drive patients, providers and payers toward a common goal of wellness. Harnessing best practices from Medicare Advantage, our innovative data-management technology allows us to commit to caring for seniors and those who need it most: the chronically ill and frail. With offices and care centers across the country, Alignment Healthcare provides partners and patients with customized care and service where they need it and when they need it, including clinical coordination, risk management and technology facilitation. Alignment Healthcare offers health plan options to California residents through Alignment Health Plan, and partners with select health plans in North Carolina and Florida to help deliver better benefits at lower costs. For more information, please visit alignmenthealthcare.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS
On behalf of Alignment Healthcare
Maggie Habib, (310) 916-6934
[email protected]
Brown & Toland Physicians
Ryan Faulkner, (415) 972-4593
[email protected]